A new commentary penned by public health researchers outlines the health-related repercussions of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

In a recent commentary in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), public health researchers warn that chemicals in the oil spilled from the Deepwater Horizon rig and the dispersants used to clean it up pose short- and long-term threats to human health, especially if they are inhaled or contact the skin. Also, certain harmful chemicals could accumulate in Gulf of Mexico fish and shellfish, posing a seafood-contamination hazard for years to come.

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In Louisiana in the early months of the spill, according to the authors, more than 300 people, most of whom were cleanup workers, sought medical care for symptoms like headaches, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, cough, respiratory stress and chest pain. These symptoms are often seen in people exposed to hydrogen sulfide gas or hydrocarbons, both products of the spilled oil, "but it is difficult to distinguish toxic symptoms from common illnesses," they write.

The authors, both affiliated with the National Resources Defense Council, note that respiratory symptoms have consistently been associated with oil exposure in oil-spill cleanup workers. Of 1811 workers compensation claims filed by cleanup workers after Exxon Valdez, 15 percent were for respiratory problems. And a survey of workers 14 years after they cleaned up Valdez showed a higher rate of chronic airway disease among workers with higher oil exposures.

High exposure to oil and dispersants is also harmful to human skin, and could result in "dermatitis and secondary skin infections," the authors warn.

As far as the safety of gulf seafood, hydrocarbons from the oil will contaminate seafood in the short-term. And while vertebrates can clear dangerous organic compounds from their system, "these chemicals accumulate for years in invertebrates," say the authors, which bodes poorly for the gulf seafood industry, the supplier of about two-thirds of the nation's oysters and a good portion of its shrimp and crab. Also, crude oil contains trace amounts of poisonous metals like cadmium, mercury and lead, and since these metals can accumulate in fish tissues, consumption of large fin fish like tuna and mackerel from the gulf could be a health hazard.